Artist Spotlight: Sierra Z. ’24

Sierra Z. is an international student at Vistamar who loves music production. Vistamar’s music production product, known as DCAT (Digital Composition and Audio Technology), is what led her to attending Vistamar. Her passion for music started in middle school even though her school in China did not have any programs like Vistamar’s music department, specifically its DCAT class. Sierra’s interest in music led to her learning how to use industry standard software for composing music, such as FL Studio and Logic Pro X, both of which are known as DAWs, or digital audio workstations.

One of Sierra’s favorite projects she has made is a traditional Chinese song. When asked about her inspiration behind this project, Sierra said, “I love Chinese traditional songs. And I grew up listening to them.” This song, titled “Horizon,” presented a unique challenge to Sierra, as she had to use American-developed software to compose it. To her surprise, the DAW she used included a guzheng, a traditional Chinese string instrument Sierra planned to use in Horizon. 

Sierra’s exploration of cultural identity does not end with her music production projects, she put together a dragon-fish lantern, another traditional chinese art piece, to go with this DCAT project. The dragon-fish lantern is made from wire and silk fabric, which are light enough to allow for the project to be hung from the Vistamar Language Commons ceiling. Make sure to look up next time you’re in the World Language Commons!